Bridging between the metal community and the church: Entextualization of the Bible in Christian metal discourse

For many metal music groups, the music and sounds play a more important role than language and the lyrics do. In the Christian metal (CM) genre, however, the verbal dimension has a significant status. Drawing on the concept of entextualization, the process of producing texts through extraction and relocation, this paper describes how CM groups craft their discourse (song lyrics plus textual contents on their websites) by drawing on pre-existing biblical texts while connecting them with the resources provided by the metal music culture. Entextualization is a fruitful way of looking into how the Bible is used on CM band websites for mediating between Christianity and metal music culture. The analysis shows how the Bible is used in different ways for the purposes of identification and acknowledging spiritual inspiration and of making the Bible relevant for today's audiences.

► Christian metal shows respect towards the Bible. ► The concept of entextualization sheds light on the ways and effects of the (re)flow of biblical discourse on band websites. ► The Bible has a significant role in the self-identification and religious practices of Christian metal bands.